Around three quarters of the 106 rooms at the care home – which caters for elderly patients with nursing needs and people with dementia – were vacant at the time of the inspection.

The CQC has had a close eye on Haven Lodge for a number of years, and placed the service in special measures in 2016 after breaches of legal requirements were discovered.

Inspectors will examine the care home again in six months and, if improvements are not made, it could withdraw Hudson Healthcare’s registration.

At the previous inspection in February, the care home was given a ‘requires improvement’ rating by the CQC.

Samuel Maierovits, managing director of Hudson Healthcare, told the Times the care home is ‘already taking steps’ to tackle the issues raised by the CQC.

He said: “The CQC report makes for disappointing reading and we accept the findings are simply not good enough.

“In the period since the inspection, we have eliminated our reliance on agency care staff, and reduced our use of agency nursing staff in order to improve the consistency and quality of care, and closed an underperforming unit so that the needs of all our residents can be more effectively met by one team in a single unit.”

Mr Maierovits added the care home has faced challenges in recruitment and retention of staff ‘despite sustained investment’, and insisted it will ‘work closely’ with the CQC to improve standards.